


When Life Gives You Time Travel, Make Lemonade

by Rachaelizame



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Gen, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2018-12-12 01:21:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11726568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachaelizame/pseuds/Rachaelizame
Summary: Padmé Amidala wakes up in her Coruscant apartment. This is surprising, given the last thing she knew, she was watching as her husband cut her son's hand off. Oh, and dead. Can't forget that.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ridiculously short, I know, but I plan to have the next chapter up on Tuesday for Time Travel Tuesday.

Padme watched as Luke fell, tears in her ghostly eyes. She knew he'd survive- the Jedi had lived through worse in her time alive, but the thought that Anakin- her Ani- had done this was terrible. She'd thought if anything could get through to him it would be their son. Clearly, she'd been wrong.

She purposefully had to remind herself that this was Anakin. The man she'd fallen in love with. She knew Obi-Wan liked to separate them into two people- Anakin and Vader- and she could understand, she really could. But she wouldn't let herself live in denial.

She'd had years to think about what had happened. And she felt for Anakin, honestly. She could understand him, up to a point. But that point did have its limits. And Anakin had gone far past it by now.

The worst part was the hope. Even now, she saw glimpses of her Ani. Of the light she was sure still existed within him- deep down. Obi-Wan claimed their Anakin was gone but she was sure he could come back. He'd have to be punished severely of course, and show actual remorse, but he could come back.

But right now, she couldn't be around him. She had to get to Luke. Her son was sure to be upset and in pain, and though she couldn't do much, she'd found she could influence emotions to a small degree here as a ghost. She supposed there wasn't much she could do with the state he was sure to be in, but a little calming influence couldn't hurt. She just wished- wished she could change it all somehow.

At the moment she thought that, she felt a strange pulling sensation. Almost a pressure. Dragging her somewhere. She tried to fight it, she needed to get to Luke after all, but it was too much. Wind started to whistle around her, and she couldn't tell if it was natural or caused by the pulling sensation. Before she could do anything, everything went dark.

-

Padme awoke. Which was, of course,the strangest part of this whole thing. She was dead, she didn't do waking up anymore. She lifted her hands and looked at them. They were pale, the same shade they'd been when she was alive, not the translucent blue she'd grown accustomed to after death.

“No. Oh no.” This was not what she had meant! This was not what she had wanted. She glanced around the room, and realized just how bad the situation was. She was in her apartment on Coruscant. It was unchanged from how she had kept it during her life. She could only think of one reason for her to be waking up here with this room looking like that. She- oh it sounded crazy but, she thought she was back in her living body. Back in time.

She started breathing heavily, which only got worse once a terrible thought occurred to her. Her hand shot to her stomach- her flat stomach. She wasn't pregnant. Luke. Leia. They hadn't been born, they might never be born!

She tried to calm herself. Though it seemed she had time traveled, she didn't know for certain yet. She needed to find out the date. And maybe, even if she had travelled through time, maybe she was simply not showing yet. Her children might not be gone.

But if they are, would that be such a bad price to pay? A part of her wondered. She quickly shushed that part. What kind of mother thought that kind of thing? But she couldn't stop thinking about it. If she was back in time, she could change things. Fix things. Maybe avoid the whole terrible future she had watched over the years. If that meant losing two people- even two people she dearly loved- maybe it would be worth the cost. Maybe saving all those lives would be worth it.

But Luke and Leia. Her children. Her babies. Could she really give them up? Stop them from existing? How could she make that decision?

Her hands shook as she reached for a tablet on her bedside table. She'd always kept it there to work on speech drafts and proposals, but it would display the date too. She turned it on, holding her breath as it powered on.

When she saw the date, she held back a sob. It looked like the decision was out of her hands. She was truly back in time. And it was far too early in the timeline for her to be pregnant.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently the muse is just edging for short chapters this go round. Hope to have the next chapter up in a few days though.

Padme allowed herself a few moments of panic, feeling it was better to get it out than bottle it up. She regained control of herself quickly, though, knowing she needed to figure out what was going on, when she was, and what she was supposed to be doing.

She tried accessing her memories, and found it easier than she had expected. She remembered the past twenty years with the same ease she always had, but so did she remember the past year of the time she had found herself in. It was a little vaguer than it usually was, but with a bit of digging, she recalled yesterday's Senate meeting and the bills she was working on.

It felt- a little like she'd been granted the ability to see into the future for a moment. But that wasn't possible. And besides it wasn't exactly like that either. She still felt the ache of knowing her husband would turn to the dark side, in a way that couldn't just be imagined or anticipated. She still knew the horror of having the Republic she'd worked to better be turned into an Empire, by the very man who was supposed to support it.

Thinking of Palpatine, she nearly panicked again. The man was currently casing the galaxy plenty of problems, and he was only intending to cause more. This whole war was his making.

She had to do something. Had to fix this somehow. If she really was back in time somehow, she had to make things better. After all, she mused sadly, she could hardly make it worse.

-

Obi-Wan Kenobi was content with how things had worked out. They could have gone better, oh, they certainly could have been. But they had worked out eventually. People were no longer suffering under the Empire, the Light was returning to the galaxy, and he'd found personal contentment in the safety of the two children of his dearest friend, and his own reunion with all those he'd ever loved in death.

Still, he mused, he had regrets. There were things he wished had gone better. One of them being the fact that he still felt guilt over his part in the plunging of the galaxy into darkness. His oversight led Anakin to the Dark, and gave Palpatine more power. If there was anything he would change in his life, it would be that. But really-

His thoughts were cut off as he felt the Force moving around him, causing a strange pressure, a pulling sensation. He examined it in confusion, determining its purpose after a long moment of dawning horror.

“No!” And the next thing he knew, he was standing on a battlefield.

-

Anakin cursed at the strange sense in the Force. Something was happening, had happened both here and- somewhere else. He wasn't positive where but he could sense the Force moving strangely in the distance.

He cursed again as he saw Obi-Wan collapse suddenly. Whatever had happened had been closer to him and it must have affected him more. Anakin wound his way over to his side deflecting any blaster shots that could hurt him.

By the time he reached him, Obi-Wan was standing back up again. He looked-haunted when he met his eyes.

“Obi-Wan! You okay?” Anakin shouted, moving to position himself at his former master’s back. He thought he felt Obi-Wan flinch when they touched.

“I-I'm fine Anakin. I’ll explain later.”

Anakin frowned at his master’s faltering tones, but there wasn't exactly time to interrogate him about it now. He'd have to do it later.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should have the next chapter up by Wednesday, but it is exam week for me, so I may not quite be able to.

Okay. Padme thought to herself. The first thing to do was to contact someone about this. But who? She obviously couldn't tell her politician friends. They'd think her insane. But she only really knew and trusted two Jedi- Anakin and Obi-Wan. And telling either of them- if they believed her- would result in Anakin knowing she'd seen? Been to? Witnessed the future. She couldn't ask Obi-Wan to keep something like that a secret from Anakin after all. And Anakin- he'd want to know. What happened, where he was. She wasn't sure she could lie to him about it and she certainly couldn't tell him the truth. He'd lose it.

Suddenly, an idea came into her head. She couldn't tell her politician friends or Jedi friends- except that some of her politician friends had had experiences with the Jedi themselves. They'd have an idea of how crazy things could get surrounding the Jedi. They might require some convincing, but she was sure she could get them to believe her.

And, looking at her calendar, she had a lunch planned with one of them for this very day. She quickly made a call to invite the other person she could think of.

-

Obi-Wan was avoiding him, Anakin just knew it. Ever since that strange twist in the Force, he'd made every excuse not to be around him. Plus, something about him had changed, Anakin could sense it in the Force. It was buried deep, but he was close enough to the man to be able to tell. He didn't think many people would be able to, but Anakin was his best friend and he could tell the difference.

He didn't think the difference was dangerous, at least, not to him. He was more worried about what it meant for Obi-Wan. What could have happened to him in those few moments when the Force had shifted?

-

Obi-Wan had retreated to his quarters immediately after the battle. He'd been avoiding everyone since then. How could he face any of them? The clones, knowing what he now knew about how they'd been made. It made him sick. And the Council, having been shown what would happen to them. It worried him. And Anakin. The horrible future that waited for him- that made Obi-Wan terrified.

The moment he'd first seen Anakin again had been rough, a whirlwind of conflicting emotions that he'd quickly stuffed out of mind. Horror at seeing the man who could become Darth Vader, joy at seeing his brother so young and relatively free of suffering, anger at the Force for making him relive this, and cautious optimism about the ability to fix it.

He needed to deal with all these emotions, so he retreated into himself, meditating. The Jedi may have some flaws, he was willing to admit after a lifetime of experience, but he was still a Jedi and he was going to deal with this in the best way he knew how.

He emerged from his meditation to hear a knocking on his door. He sighed. Anakin. He stood up more slowly than he needed to, an old man’s habit - which was strange because he really didn't feel old anymore. He felt thirty six, as though he'd just been given a vision, but he didn't get visions like that. That had been real. And he retained some habits from his advanced years, though some had disappeared. It was a confusing sensation, but he could feel the Force trying to smooth it out and he was grateful to it for that at least.

He opened the door and greeted Anakin.

-

Chancellor Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious, reflected on the past few hours. Something had changed in the Force, both here and on the battlefield Anakin and Kenobi were currently assigned to. That could spell disaster for Sidious’s plans, but he couldn't exactly try to contact Anakin to confirm his pawn was still in play. Even most Jedi couldn't tell where exactly the twist had happened, and there was no way to explain his knowledge.

Frustratingly, he also couldn't get a clear lock on where the twist had occurred here on Coruscant either. He could tell it was the Force itself fighting him. The Force seemed to like being in the light, though why, Sidious had no idea. He'd found himself fighting it before, though rarely. He mastered the Force, it did not master him.

He supposed he'd just have to do his digging the old-fashioned way. He made a call to one of his many informants and got to work.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer than I'd like, but it's over a thousand words, getting back to whats normal for me.

Padme opened the door of her apartment and smiled at the woman on the other side. Satine Kryze was impeccably dressed as always, though she'd dressed down for a simple lunch with a friend.

“Satine! It's so good to see you again.”

“You as well, Padme. Especially after that business last time we met.” Padme nodded empathetically, taking a moment's thought to remember the disaster that was the last time she went to Mandalore.

“Agreed. I'm afraid, however, I do have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Lets wait for our second guest to arrive. I don't want to explain it all twice.”

“Of course,” Satine murmured, moving out of the doorway and into the main room of the apartment. They settled on the couches and chatted for a few moments about what they'd experienced since last they spoke. Finally, the doorbell rang again. Padme stood up to get it.

When she opened the door, it is to see Bail Organa, looking very formal in Alderaanian traditional wear.

“Bail, come in. It's good to see you.”

“And you, Padme. Why did you call me here?” Bail and Breha had always been surprisingly blunt for politicians, and Padme wasn't surprised Bail had questions.

“Come into the main room and I'll explain.”

Bail settled onto a separate couch than Satine and Padme chose to remain standing.

“I've called you both here because you both have had dealings with Obi-Wan Kenobi, and you know how often things that seem impossible happen in this galaxy, particularly when you spend time with Jedi.”

Bail and Satine both nodded in agreement with her words.

“Padme, what happened?” Bail asked.

“Something impossible,” Padme whispered. She regained her voice after a moment. “This is going to sound ridiculous, even insane, but… I believe I have seen the future.”

Satine and Bail exchanged a quick look, before Satine stood up and moved to Padme.

“You've been under a lot of stress recently, dear. Are you sure there's not a simpler explanation? There's no shame in needing a break.”

“Believe me, I wish the truth was that I've had a break from reality. The alternative is… much worse.”

“We’d like to believe you, Padme, it's just, as you said, this is beyond belief. Do you have any way to prove this?” Bail said. “Would you be willing to submit to a psych exam for example?”

“No, that wouldn't do it,” Satine argued. “A neurological exam may show no problems, but she'd be diagnosed based on her words alone. There's too much we don't know about the brain to be sure. We'd need something else.”

“My memories.” Padme said. “I have memories of the next few days, and I can tell you them, and when they happen, you'll know what I've seen is real. If they don't happen, then you can take me to the nearest hospital.”

Bail and Satine exchange a look.

“I suppose it can't hurt to try it. There's no other way of knowing, and if you're right, we can't have you locked away when nothing's wrong with you.” Satine said. Bail nodded in agreement.

“Alright. Thank you.” Padme said. “Let’s see… in the next two days, there's a natural disaster on Corellia, a flood I believe. And an explosion in the Riileb system, supposedly a small slave revolt that was quickly put down. Finally a bill on the economic importance of corn and grain in the Mid Rim is introduced to the Senate.”

Satine copied down Padme’s words on flimsy.

“Thank you for being willing to listen to me.” Padme said gratefully.

“Of course,” Satine took Padme’s hands in her own. “You're our friend.”

“We just want to know you're alright.” Bail agreed.

“So,” Satine said, after a long moment. “What exactly makes this future so bad that a break from reality is preferable?”

Padme shuddered.

“Not now. Not until I know for sure. I can't implicate innocent men in this until I know they're really guilty. Besides, I - I can't… it's a terrible future. I don't want to think about it.”

Bail nods, and gestures her to the door.

“In that case, let's get lunch.”

-

As Obi-Wan greeted Anakin, he saw Ahsoka peering around the corner at them. He smiled, overtaken by a wave of affection for the girl. And then, as he recalled memories of what waited for her in the future, his smile dropped.

“Come in, Ahsoka. You may as well hear this too.” Anakin looked back at her, annoyed for a moment, before a sheepish grin overtook his face.

“Guess I can't really expect you not to be curious, eh, Snips?”

“The way you're raising me? Of course not, Master.”

With that bit of cheek, Ahsoka walked into the room, Anakin following her. Obi-Wan gestured for them to sit, and sighed heavily.

“Well, you know why we're here, Obi-Wan.” Anakin began. “What happened out there?”

“Nothing happened, Anakin. I simply was overwhelmed for a moment.”

Ahsoka makes an unimpressed face and Anakin just looks like he knows the battle or the truth is about to begin.

“C’mon Master. You can trust us.” Obi-Wan remains hesitant to Anakin's words, as he had planned, before finally sighing at the combined gazes of Anakin and Ahsoka.

“It's not anything terrible.” He admitted. “I simply had a vision.”

“You don't usually get visions, do you Master Obi-Wan?” Ahsoka asked.

“No, he doesn't. But when he does they're bad.” Anakin answered her. “So what is it this time?”

“This occasion was more vague than most. There was only a few small pieces I could discern. It seemed to be of an encroaching darkness.”

“So nothing new, then?” Ahsoka sighed.

“No. But this… it was different. More personal. Darker than anything I've seen before. I believe someone's going to attack the Temple. And I think they're going to win.”

“Win? What do you mean?” Ahsoka looked back and forth between the worried looks on her master and grandmaster’s faces.

“I mean, even with everyone at the Temple who could fight back, this assailant will survive. Moreover, they will escape relatively unscathed.” Obi-Wan’s brow furrowed as he recalled the horror of seeing Anakin slaughter the younglings, letting that horror reflect on his face.

“We have to do something!” Anakin said. Ahsoka nodded eagerly.

“I'm afraid there's not much we can do, outside of warning the Temple. This vision… it didn't give me all the details.” Oh if only that were true.

“Well, tell us everything. Maybe we can still do something.” Anakin said. Obi-Wan signed, and set to retelling the story of the worst day of his life.


	5. Chapter 5

“It started with Sidious, at least, I assume it was Sidious.” Obi-Wan said. Anakin made an aggravated noise at the name. “He- he corrupted someone, brought them to his side. Judging by the lightsaber- it was a Jedi.” The last words were whispered, as he went deep into his mind to deal with the truth of what had happened- could happen again.

“Obi-Wan.” Anakin said, shaking his master’s arm gently to rouse him from he stupor he'd gone into. This vision must have been bad. But then he could tell that just from the words. Another Jedi turned? He didn't know nearly enough Jedi to have an idea who it could be, but he trusted them all! At least, he trusted them with his life. He didn't always trust them to tell him the truth. Anakin scowled at his thoughts and the reminder that the Jedi didn't all trust him.

“I couldn't see his face. I didn't recognize him. I'm not sure I'd want to tell you if I did. Whoever it was needs to be helped, not implicated in treason.”

“Master Obi-Wan, we can be subtle,” Ahsoka protested. Anakin just looked at her. He knew being gentle and coaxing someone to his point of view was not exactly his or Ahsoka’s main strength. Ahsoka wilted slightly.

“Well, we can be helpful. You shouldn't take on this task alone!”

“Don't worry. I won't. I didn't see his face after all, did I?” And something about the words was just the slightest bit off, Anakin thought. Was Obi-Wan lying? He knew Obi-Wan didn't always tell him the full truth, but he thought he was above actually lying to him.

But then again, maybe not. Anakin frowned as he remembered Obi-Wan’s Rako Hardeen disguise. But that- much as it still galled Anakin he hadn't been trusted with the information- had been for a purpose. What purpose could lying about this serve?

You don't know he's lying. And you don't know his reasons if he is. Trust your master. A soft voice almost seemed to be speaking in Anakin’s mind. His voice of reason, he supposed. Though even that seemed mildly annoyed with Obi-Wan.

Another voice spoke. He doesn't trust you, he thinks you'll mess it up if you know, he thinks you're not a good enough Jedi for this, HE DOESN’T TRUST YOU.

Anakin found himself more likely to believe the second voice.

-

Satine Kryze was heading to speak with the Senate. She was nervous about Mandalore and was having her aide, Lyan brief her about the goings on back home. The situation was only escalating, and had she not needed to come speak with the Republic Senate in her position as leader of the Council of Neutral Systems, she would not have left at all.

It was nice to see Padme and Orn, and her other friends among the Republic, though, she mused. Though she was quite worried about Padme. No matter whether she was telling the truth or not, it seemed something terrible was going on. Padme had been quite tight lipped about the details, but she was clearly on edge.

As if promoted by her thoughts Lyan spoke.

“Moving on from Mandalorian business, there was a small slave revolt in the Riileb system, reports are saying. We may wish to look into that for humanitarian purposes.” Satine's eyes flew wide at his words, but she remained outwardly composed. It wouldn't do to give anything away after all, and besides, the situation it Riileb had been bubbling for months. That one could have been simply a good guess.

“The Riileb system, you said? Assign Manil to keep an eye in it.” Lyan nodded, returning to tapping at his data pad.

At the words, Satine entered her “guest” pod in the Senate. She was slated to speak twentieth today, a refreshingly late position. Even war conversations, prevalent as they seemed to be, did not always come first.

She heard the other guests speaking quietly as she sat. One rumor in particular caught her attention.

“Did you hear? A flood on Corellia! A bad one. Off their northern continent, I believe.”

She swallows heavily. That was harder to guess. It wasn't flooding season on Corellia’s northern continent and their infrastructure should have held. Still, it wasn't impossible for it to be coincidence, she supposed, though a part of her was already convinced.

As the meeting was called into session, she turned to the nearest person in her pod.

“What are you here to discuss?” She asked the obviously nervous woman. She was dressed in a nice suit, but it was certainly not up to the Senate’s usual standards. Satine wa sure it was this woman's best regardless.

“Me? Oh, Duchess Kryze, so nice to meet you. I'm here, ah, that is, I run a small farming corporation, or not so much a corporation as a collaboration of different farms. We produce corn and grain. We were added to this meeting at the last moment. We're, ah, here to discuss the importance of this products on Mid- Rim economy. I know it's not the most important conversation-”

The woman continued to babble for a moment as Satine sat in shock. Padme had been telling the truth. The odds of her being right on all three things were increasingly small. It was easier to believe in some form of foreknowledge than the idea that Padme was somehow able to guess with complete accuracy three things that would happen in the next day.

Satine glanced to Padme’s pod and swallowed heavily.


	6. Chapter 6

“So we know you're telling the truth. What are we going to do about it?” Bail spoke. He and Satine had hurried to Naboo’s pod after the Senate meeting, needing to talk to Padme. She held up a hand.

“Not here.” Padme spoke softly. “Meet me at my apartment in an hour.” Satine and Bail nodded and went back to their duties.

Finally they met up again, and Padme quickly went over the main room with a small machine.

“It's to detect bugs.” She explained when she had finished. “Anakin made it for me.”

“Anakin… Skywalker?” Satine asked. Bail sighed heavily.

“You should know, Duchess, that Padme and Anakin are the least subtle secret couple I've ever met. And I've met a number of them.”

Satine nodded absent-mindedly. You always met people secretly having affairs as a politician. But more importantly, Padme and Anakin were involved? That was a big deal. Satine knew well the Jedi Code forbade such things.

“Bail!” Padme admonished. Satine would have expected her to be blushing, but she wasn't. “Though, I suppose it does no harm. I was about to tell her.”

“Anakin and I are not simply a couple. We are married.”

“Oh, congratulations!” Satine murmured. Because that was simply what you did when someone announced that. But internally she was filled with dread. She knew this could be going nowhere good. There was no way a marriage between a Jedi and anyone could.

“I need to tell you this because it's where the future begins. Things were going well, for a while. Then I got pregnant.” Satine and Bail’s eyes widened.

“The pregnancy… scared Anakin, deeply. He was terrified I would die in childbirth, and as the Jedi have visions, he was convinced this would happen. I don't know what exactly caused it, though I have suspicions, but he quickly devolved into a mess, and then… then he Fell.”

Bail looked confused but Satine heard the emphasis on the last word and gasped, hands going to her mouth.

“Oh, Padme.” At her words, a look of understanding came over Bail’s face.

“What happened then?” He asked, concerned for Padme’s safety.

“I went to confront him on Mustafar. Obi-Wan snuck onboard with me. I talked to him, and realized the extent of the damage. Then he… killed me.”

“You have to get away from him.” Satine said firmly. “We can't risk this happening again.”

“I appreciate your concern, Satine, but I want to help Anakin. There's good in him, I know it, and it doesn't have to be this way.”

“What happened to Obi-Wan? You mentioned he snuck onboard your ship. Why didn't he stop Anakin?” Bail asked.

“I think he wanted to believe I could bring Anakin back. He gave me the opportunity to try. He only intervened when he thought it was getting too dangerous. Obi-Wan and Anakin fought then, and they both survived, but Anakin was badly hurt. I don't know how he survived.”

Satine and Bail were very quiet while Padme spoke.

“What can we do?” Bail asked finally.

“Oh, Bail I haven't even finished telling you how bad it gets.”

“How could you know?” Satine asks.

“Because I was dead for a while. I don't remember it well, but evidently, dead people can watch the living, Obi-Wan and I both did.” Satine gasped again.

“I thought you said he survived?” She said, voice wavering.

“He did. I was dead for a long time, just watching. He lived for a while after that. He died to save Luke and Leia and Han.”

“Who are they?” Bail asked.

“Luke and Leia are my twins. And Han is their friend.” Padme leaned over and took Bail’s hand. “In that future, you adopted Leia, raised her as your own. Thank you.” There were tears in her eyes as she spoke.

“Padme, it would have been my honor to raise her.”

“So. What did you see?” Satine asked, after giving them a moment to themselves.

“You know how the Jedi have said there may be a Sith Lord behind everything? They're right. It's Palpatine.”

Bail and Satine automatically denied the accusation. To believe that the Chancellor was corrupt was one thing, to believe he was a Sith Lord was quite another. But Padme had given them reason to believe her, and they had to admit, it made sense. Satine had said herself there seemed to be a driving force for the war in the Senate, though she hadn't meant it quite like this.

“We need proof, of course.” Padme said. “We can't simply go accusing the Chancellor of plotting against the Republic with nothing to prove it.”

“How can we possibly prove that?” Satine whispered.

“I have an idea. It's something that needs to be done anyway, so it would be a good start. I just have no idea how we can do it.”

“What?”

“The clones. They have some kind of control chip in their heads, makes them follow the Chancellor’s orders above all else. If we can get that out of them, or get proof of it from the Kaminoans, that would go a long way toward proving at least that there’s someone on the inside.”

Bail could tell Padme was holding back.

“Padme. What does the chip make them do?” It wasn't a question, not really. It was a demand for information.

“Kill the Jedi.” Padme whispered. Bail wasn't sure whether to feel relief or horror. That was certainly better than some other possibilities, but the idea of the Jedi being hunted down by their soldiers was horrifying. Knowing a few Jedi as friends, Bail was even more concerned.

“I have an idea.” Satine said determinedly.

“What is it?”

“I'll send some of my people in to get the information. The Kaminoans have good relations with us, and we may be able to make a trade of information. I'll tell my intelligence agencies that getting that is a high priority mission.”

“Good. We have time. It was a year from now when they attacked, but we should get going on things as quickly as we can.”

“I've been thinking about getting some of our allies together to gather information on Chancellor Palpatine for a while now. I think it's time to bring them together.” Bail said.

Padme nodded.

“We need to start fighting back against him, harder than we even considered. It's the only way to avoid what I saw.” Her eyes took on a haunted look again and Satine and Bail exchanged a glance, wondering what she was contemplating.

“The Republic, turned into an Empire…” Padme murmured. “It's unthinkable, but it happened. We need to stop turning a blind eye. We need to act.”

-

Sidious snarled as his underlying left the room. So Organa and Amidala were working together to undermine him. He didn't know what they knew, but he knew they would find something. Even he couldn't hide every bit of evidence of his crimes over the years. Still he had plans for this eventuality. He could work with this.

-

Obi-Wan was startled when Anakin came up behind him. It was still a surprise to feel him so light. Even after he'd turned back to the light, his Force presence had been stained with all that he'd done wrong. It was strange to feel the Anakin he used to know again.

He turned to face him nevertheless.

“The Council’s recalled us to Coruscant for a while. They want to know what that Force disturbance was.”

“I'll tell them everything I told you.” Obi-Wan said. “How long until we get there?”

“We’re fairly close now. Just two days.” Obi-Wan nodded wearily. He didn't know how he'd handle being in the Temple again. He hoped he didn't give himself away. Now was the time for action not the recollections of an old man.

Anakin pressed a hand to Obi-Wan’s shoulder for a moment before he left. And Obi-Wan went back to contemplating how he could possibly fix this.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some Obitine showed up this chapter so I'll update the tags. And the reunion between Padme and Anakin!

Anakin entered his and Padme’s apartment quietly. He checked her schedule. She shouldn't have any meeting at this hour, so hopefully she was at home.

As he entered the doorway, he saw that she was there. But she must have scheduled a lunch meeting, because so were Bail Organa and Satine Kryze. Anakin startled slightly at seeing them.

“Duchess. Senators.” He quickly regained composure and bowed his head slightly to them. They returned the gesture.

“Knight Skywalker. How nice to see you.” Padme said. “I was just having lunch with Duchess Kryze and Senator Organa.”

“I see. I'm sorry for disturbing you. Master Kenobi and I just got recalled to Coruscant for Jedi business, and I assumed you would be free. I apologize for the assumption.”

Anakin saw Satine perk up at the mention of Obi-Wan and thought he saw his ah out of this.

“Duchess, given the nature of our business, we should be here for at least the next few days. I can see if Master Kenobi would like to meet with you to catch up, if you'd like.”

“I would like that, Knight Skywalker.” Satine contained on her face the eagerness Anakin could feel coming off her in the Force, but Bail and Padme still send her a confused look.

“I haven't seen Master Kenobi in a while, myself.” Bail said after a moment. “Perhaps you could relay the same message from me?”

Anakin nodded. _Though I don't think it'll have quite the same effect._

“Knight Skywalker, would you like to join us? I don't have much time before heading back to the Senate for the day, and I would like a chance to catch up with you.” Padme said.

“Oh, I won't bother you. Perhaps we could meet at this time tomorrow?” Anakin asked, knowing he'd see her much sooner.

“If you're free, I'd enjoy that.” Padme swallowed the lie in her words, and Anakin turned to leave.

When he'd left the room, Bail and Satine immediately turned to face her, Satine reaching for her hand.

“Are you okay?” Bail asked.

“I-I'm fine.” Padme faltered over the words. It was harder to see Anakin again then she'd anticipated- and she'd anticipated it being pretty bad. She hadn't been able to stop her heart from racing at the sight of him, or stop the memories of all the atrocities committed by Darth Vader over the many years he served as the Emperor's right hand.

Oh, fierfek, how was she supposed to do this? How could she act like everything was normal when she was terrified of her own husband?

She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she wasn't terrified of her husband, but of what her husband could be. It was a small difference, but a vital one. Her Ani, this Anakin had never done those things. He was innocent of those wrongdoings.

“Okay. I'm not fine. But I will be.” She said.

-

Anakin met Obi-Wan in the man’s apartment after his meeting with the Council.

“So what did you tell them?” Anakin asked as soon as he entered the apartment.

“Exactly what I told you, Anakin.” Obi-Wan sighed. “What else would I have told them?”

Anakin shrugged. He still couldn't shake the feeling there was something more to the story, but he was trying to trust Obi-Wan and believe in him.

“I met up with Senator Amidala. She was having a lunch meeting. Senator Organa would like to meet up to talk.” Anakin said. Obi-Wan smiled.

“It would be nice to meet with Bail. He's a good friend.”

“Satine wants to meet up too.” Anakin teased, waiting for Obi-Wan’s reaction. He expected denial that there was anything between them, but a clear fondness for the woman regardless. He wasn't expected the wave of sudden excitement and hope that met him.

“Oh?” Obi-Wan played it casual. Anakin narrowed his eyes.

“What are you so excited about?” He asked.

“Nothing. I simply appreciate a chance to meet up with my friends.”

“Yeah. Friends.” Anakin teased. “You like her.”  
  
“Anakin.” Obi-Wan says, exasperated. But Anakin can still feel more lightness and hope in his Force signature than usual.

“Yeah, okay.” Anakin waves his hand and drops the subject. But he still smiles. He's glad Obi-Wan is happy.

-

Anakin went to the apartment as soon as he felt it safe to slip away. It had been so long since he had seen Padme, and he was thrilled at this opportunity to see her again.

He entered their bedroom quietly, seeing she was already asleep. He slid in next to her, and she startled awake.

“Sorry,” he whispered. He reached to touch her shoulder and she flinched away. He frowned. Did she have a nightmare or something? He couldn't imagine any other reason for her to react like that.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, I'm fine.” Padme reassured him. “You just scared me for a moment. I'm fine.” Anakin accepted her answer, snuggling into her. Padme found herself relaxing in the gesture, new fear overwhelmed by old instincts.

Still, she didn't fall asleep for hours.

-

Obi-Wan met up with Satine for lunch at her Coruscant apartment the next day. She seems strangely hesitant when she sees him, but he smiles broadly at her. She smiles back, seeming relieved.

They make polite conversation for a while over lunch, then move to the couch and continue their conversation. At a lull in the dialogue, Satine seems hesitant before speaking.

“You're not mad?” Obi-Wan wonders wildly what he would be mad about, before remembering.

The last time he had seen her in the original timeline, after the danger of the situation they were in had passed, she'd told him her “nephew” was actually their son. He'd been very upset that she'd hidden such a thing from him, and hadn't known how to forgive her right away. But he'd gotten over it by this time in both timelines, so he was able to take her hand and reassure her.

“Satine. I thought about it, and though I wish circumstances were different, I understand your decision. I remember why you told me the truth, because you had nearly died, and I- I realized that I'm, well, I'm just glad you're alive.”

The words come out more emotional than he intends them to, his mind filling with the memory of her death, his ears ringing with her last words.

He hesitates, then leans forward, capturing her lips with his. He knows another thing he will try his best to change in this timeline. He can't let her down again


End file.
